Louisville Cruises to Victory over Old Dominion

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville turned in one of its most dominating performances in program history. Behind a well-balanced effort on both ends of the field, the Cardinals rolled to a 21-3 victory over visiting Old Dominion Saturday afternoon at the UofL Lacrosse Stadium.

"I'm just excited to put back-to-back complete games together," said head coach Kellie Young. "I think this game was a combination of our Canisius and Ohio State performances. (We) took care of the ball at midfield and took care of our jobs on both ends of the field. I'm really proud of the team."

Louisville set the tone offensively from the start, with two goals in the game's opening minute. Freshman Erika Eipp found Colleen O'Malley just 39 seconds into the game. Twenty seconds later, Cortnee Daley, one of six players with multiple goals, buried her first of three goals in the contest.

The Cardinals continued pouring it on with two more goals in the game's second minute. Katie Oliverio found Daley before Kaylin Morissette made it 4-0 with her first of a team-leading five goals.

Louisville responded to Old Dominion's first goal with a 5-0 run. Reigning Big East Offensive Player of the Week Nikki Boltja buried three of her four goals with Morissette netting the other two.

The Cardinals closed out the first half with a 5-1 run with Eipp recording three of her game-high five assists.

"It's a breakout game for her," Young said. "We've been on her pretty hard for the last couple of games just for not really noticing her on the field. Not just with her assists today, but she was making cuts up the field every minute she was out there."

Even with all of the offensive firepower, the Cardinals' defense had no shortage of success. Behind five second-half saves by Ashley Herbst, the Monarchs were kept off the scoreboard for the entire half.

"This is the best performance Ashley has ever had in the cage," Young said. "I'm really excited for her that she continues to get better. Anytime you keep a team scoreless in a half, or 30 minutes, is pretty amazing. Three goals for an entire game even is pretty amazing."

Louisville continued its offensive onslaught in the second half with a 7-0 run. The Cardinals closed out the game with Emily Kolsevich scoring her first goal of the season and freshman Kayla Sleece netting her first collegiate goal.

Louisville hits the road for the first time this season with a noon contest at Denver on Saturday, March 2.